(sounds like a military charge of insanity, huh?)

by Cecilia Gill

I probably shouldn't brag, because the next time I hit a tiny little riffle we'll all go in the drink, but I am rather proud of myself.... so here goes!

This past weekend we (my boys, ages 6 and 3 and I, age, well, a true Southern lady never tells her true age!) anyway, we went to Bandera to do the Medina River Clean Up. I SPECIFICALLY requested the slowest, calmest section since I would be paddling my big expedition tandem canoe alone with 2 small children. I was referred to Section #8, between Ranger Crossing and the park at Hwy 16 where we were all congregating and all the festivities were going on. We got our teeshirts and bags, were fed breakfast, then I met the section leader and we did the shuttle.

Morgan and Lonnie help with the cleanup

When we got on the river, the water was moving, but nothing I couldn't handle. We got the boats in the water, the boys in the boat, then me in the boat. Fantastic. It was nice. A lovely river. Shortly after we started off, we hit some rather harsh riffles.... bordering on whitewater. OK, I can handle that. We're fine. Then, the riffles had some white caps on them... OK, OK, I managed. The river got narrower and started twisting and turning fairly tightly. The current got swifter. There were trees, rocks and strainers coming up. Oh, look! There's some actual for really real whitewater going on here!

I had to do some major maneuvering, and my whitewater skills came into play. I'm rusty, but maybe not as rusty as I thought....? We came through it all right, and the boys had a blast. They thought we were at a water park, except that they were wearing helmets and in mommy's canoe. I eddied out and waited for the rest of the crew to show up.

Finally, one guy did. He smiled to see us perfectly OK and waiting. I think he might have been a little impressed. My guess here would be that no one took into consideration how much a river can change after a good rain...and I've never been on the Medina before. I was told that because of the rain we wouldn't have to walk our boats. That much was true.....

Long story short, I think that the crew was at first concerned that I was paddling a big expedition canoe alone, and to top that off, with 2 small boys in the front of it. When they saw that I can indeed handle myself and that the boys enjoy this sort of thing, I think they were relieved that we didn't end up being nothing but problems, like I'm sure they might have thought in the beginning.

What I encountered on Section 8 of the Medina rivaled all the rapids that I have ever encountered on the San Marcos.... and to think, I've been hesitant to take the boys down the San Marcos in the canoe! Hah! I might portage Cottonseed, simply because of all the horror stories I've heard about it lately, but that's about it.

Now that I'm bragging on myself, the next time we're on a barely moving flat water paddle, get ready to laugh.....

It was a lovely trip down a beautiful river on a nice day. There was a wonderful hot shower waiting for us when we got back, followed by a great BBQ dinner and tasty brownies. There was music and a general air of celebration going on. They had the coveted "Bent Paddle Award" for the strangest thing pulled out of the river. I kind of missed out on who... or WHAT won, since Lonnie and Morgan were tired and ready to go after that wonderful meal. Later I was told that someone from Houston won it for a bashed up boat they found. There was other interesting things pulled out of the river. A bathtub, an ice maker, a floor polisher, a pontoon (I wanted that....) a golf club and a hockey stick. For whatever reason, Morgan's box springs that he found weren't there, but that's OK. We left before the contest anyway. Someone else found a pop up tent that wasn't in the contest for whatever reason.

Just had to share! I got a few, but I didn't get a whole lot of pics. I have a digital camera, NOT waterproof. I have a marine case for it. The problem is that the camera has to be on the entire time its in the case. What a stupid design.... I will be getting a waterproof digital camera soon. I hate going on these great adventures and not being able to bring back all the pics I'd like to because I'm afraid to get the camera wet, and I don't keep it in the marine case because I'm afraid the battery will have run out so that I can't get any great shots anyway. And I don't have back up batteries becuase this battery is very hard to find, and costs about $75 when you do find one. Waahh!

So for our next planned adventure (the Sabine River Memorial Day Weekend Trip) I will have a camera that I can take all sorts of great pics with and share them! For once! It's nice to be able to tell a tale, but its even better to be able to SHOW it!!!

~~</>~~
SYOTR!
Cecilia